William a



(No Model.)

W. A. FINN. SPOOL.

No; 594,989. Patented 96. 7,1997.

"I!!!" I i JLLW/ INVEN 70/? #9 AT ORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. FINN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO FRANCISH. MOCORMACK, OF SAME PLACE.

SPOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,989, dated December7, 1897.

Application filed February 8, 1896- Serial No. 578,486. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. FINN, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spools, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in spools, spindles, or reelsintended to hold cotton, silk, thread, or other similar material,especially to that class of devices which are designed to prevent thethread from being unintentionally unwound.

The objects of my invention are, first, to prevent the unintentionalunwinding of the thread when not in use; second, toprovide a device bywhich the thread may be conveniently fastened both when the spool hasbeen wound to the desired length by the manufacturer and afterward whenthe spool is in use; third, to provide a device by means of which thethread may be fastened and separated when desired; fourth, to provide adevice, as aforesaid, which may be formed integrally with the spoolwithout material additional expense or labor. Iattain these objects bythe devices hereinafter described and claimed, as follows:

Heretofore spools for holding thread and other material have been madeor used with a small slit or notch in the head of the spool in which theend of the thread was inserted after the spool has been wound by themanufacturer to the desired amount and length, and thus necessitatingthe making of the slit or notch and the diflicultyof placing the threadtherein, all of which my invention is designed to remedy. The slit beingso small and being fixed at a certain point it is impracticable toreinsert the thread in the same ence refer to similar parts throughoutthe various figures.

Figure l is a side elevation of the spool. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection of the spool through its axis. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of thespool. Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing the inside surface of theflange convex.

Referring to the figures, A is a spool; a and a, the heads thereof; B,an annular flange or disk integrally formed with reference to and a partof the spool; 19, the outer or external surface of the flange; b theinner surface; b the edge thereof; 0, an annular angular aperturebetween the flange B and the head a; D, the thread.

The annular flange B may be made with an internal annular bevelconverging toward the axis of the spool until it intersects the surfaceof the head.a,-with the angle between the flange and the head quiteacute, or the surface of the flange may be convex with a large radius incomparison with the diameter of the flange, forming a bight composed ofthe head of the spool and the inner surface of the flange in the annularaperture 0. The

edge b may be made sharp in order to cut 7 the thread.

The operation of my device is as follows: The thread or other materialin the first instance is wound upon the spool to the quantity required,and the end is inserted in the annular aperture by slipping it over thehead of the spool and between it and the flangeand pulled toward theaxis of the spool, where the side of the head and the surface of theflange grip or bite the thread and hold it firmly. The spool is thenready for sale and use. In using the spool the thread is removed fromthe aperture, and when the amount required is ascertained and detachedthe thread is again placed in the aperture, as aforesaid, and the spoolmay be cast aside.

When the spool is made of hard wood or the improvement made of metal,the edge b can be made sharp enough to cut the thread or other materialas follows: After the amount of thread to be used is ascertained it isinserted in the aperture, as shown in Fig. 3, and

2. A new article of manufacture,a spool provided on the face of one itsheads, with an annular flange beveled under and internally at an acuteangle to the face of said head, to form a bight to receive and hold theloose end of the thread, substantially as described.

Signed at the city of New York, in the county of New York and State ofNew York, this 5th day of February, 1896.

WILLIAM A. FINN. YVitnesses:

H. W. GIELINGS, FRANK O. GARMANY.

